FAQs

 

Report + Support is an online safe space reporting tool, developed by Culture Shift, through which students, learners, staff and visitors can report incidences of bullying or harassment anonymously or with contact details. If contacted details are provided, you will be contacted by a Case Manager.

 

Report + Support also provides information about internal and external support, policies and procedures.  This might include signposting to external support groups or internal support teams. You can also access relevant policies and procedures on the ‘Support’ section of Report + Support site.

Open University students, learners, staff and visitors can make a report through Report + Support. 

 

 

If you feel you have experienced or witnessed inappropriate behaviour that is a form of bullying or harassment you should report this. This could be any kind of hostile, intimidating, degrading, humiliating or offensive behaviour that impacts on you or another individual.

 

If you are unsure, we have resources on the Report + Support website with examples that demonstrate some of the behaviours that should be reported. The examples are not exhaustive, and it is best to report if you are unsure.

 

The Report + Support tool lists the following incident types; you can select any number of them to describe what happened:

 

An ‘Other’ option is also available to select if you wish to describe an incident which is not listed.

 

When you submit a named report with contact details the Student or Staff Casework Team (formally known respectively as the Student Safe Space Reporting Team (SSSRT)) and the Employee Relations Case Manager (ERCM) Team will provide an initial response within three working days. The processes for both staff and student reports are detailed in our flowcharts.

 

 

Not without it being discussed with you first. The Report + Support system is a tool for you to let us know about incidences of bullying or harassment and seek support. The only instances in which the University would ever take action outside of your control are where we are obliged to do so:

 

·        If we assess that your life or that of others is at risk of harm or abuse e.g., safeguarding or Prevent concerns

·        If you are under 18. 

 

Please note that Report + Support is not an emergency service. If you are in immediate danger and worried about your safety or that of others, please call 999.

 

Choosing to report anonymously means The Open University won’t be able to contact you to offer any advice or support, or fully investigate the incident. If you would prefer that action is taken, then please report with contact details and a Case Manager will be in touch with you, usually within three working days.

Although the University may not be able to take action on an anonymous report, they are an essential part of our efforts to understand the experiences of our communities and take steps to prevent inappropriate behaviours. The anonymous reports will be collated by the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team to enable the University to identify and monitor patterns over time, and therefore to develop plans and allocate resources. For example, anonymous reports could prompt the University to initiate anti-harassment or anti-bullying campaigns across Schools, Faculties, or the entire University. 

 

In short, do not think that if you submit an anonymous report, nothing will happen. Anonymous reports may provide the only insight of what is actually happening at the University, and as such, are crucial for the University to take action collectively. If you have seen or experienced something serious enough to bother or upset you, the University wants to know about it, and you should report it.

 

The Open University does not know who has made an anonymous report, and therefore cannot reach out and provide support or investigate the report. Instead, for anonymous reports, the reports are collated to enable the University to identify patterns and to develop plans and allocate resources to address negative behaviours (see point 8). 
 
If you would like to receive support or consider informal or formal options to address a concern, you should make a report with contact details. A Case Manager will contact you, usually within 3 working days, and discuss with you how you wish to proceed, including the option to launch a full investigation

 

 

 

Yes. If you have witnessed an incident or if you are worried about someone else, you can make a report on their behalf.  If you complete a report with contact details, we will discuss what you witnessed with you and investigate the incident, though we will not be able to discuss any of the other person’s personal details or their case with you, unless we have their written consent.

 

 

There may be occasions where you do not feel ready to make a report yourself and would prefer if someone else made it on your behalf. Anyone who makes a report on your behalf should agree this with you first. 

 

If someone makes a report on your behalf, a Case Manager will contact you and ask if you are aware that this report has been made. They will only proceed with the conversation if you confirm that you are aware and wish to continue the process. 

 

 

We ask for this data so that we can monitor the different experiences of certain groups and be able to take more targeted action to address issues at The Open University. Answering these questions is optional and can be skipped. The information is not required to submit a report. 

 

Your data is important to us. Please be assured that all information you submit to us is treated with the utmost confidentiality. For more information, please see the Safe Space Reporting System Privacy Notice.

 

 

The responses you provide to the personal data questions on the Report + Support System will not change the personal data held on your staff/student record. The anonymised data feeds into high level statistical reporting, to help us gain a better understanding of whether certain groups of people within The Open University are experiencing issues with assault, bullying, discrimination, harassment, hate crime or sexual misconduct. 

 

The data collected from Report + Support is used to produce anonymised annual reports. These reports would include the number of cases, most reported types of issues and location. 

 

The reports will go to the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Committee. The EDI Committee will be able to use the reports from R+S to inform Senate about what changes need to happen at the OU and help to drive progress towards eliminating bullying and harassment.

 

Data held on Report + Support is General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) compliant and further information about how data is collected and stored is outlined in the Privacy Notice. The system has been security tested by both the developer (Culture Shift) and by The Open University. 

 

For more information on our third-party providers security please see here: How we keep data secure — Culture Shift (culture-shift.co.uk)

We will only retain personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil purposes we collected it for. We will keep records of reports  as outlined in the Privacy Notice.

The system is administered by The Open University EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) Team who have oversight of all reports submitted. 

The Student Safe Space Reporting Team (SSSRT) will be able to see all reports from students this includes anonymous reports from students. The Employee Relations Case Manager (ERCM) Team will be able to see all reports from staff this includes anonymous reports from staff. 

 

Culture Shift will not be able to see any of the reports.

 

If a report is found to be malicious or vexatious, such reports will be addressed under existing student and staff disciplinary procedures. 

 

 

If you have been reported as a student, your line manager would not usually be informed, however a judgement would be made considering all the circumstances. 

 

 

If a direct report has been reported and you would like some support, please contact the People Hub for advice. 

 

 

We do not currently have training for Report + Support however we do encourage new line managers to have a look at our Report + Support intranet pages for information and resources. If you do need further support or have questions, please email report-and-support@open.ac.uk.

 

 

Yes. If a report has been submitted about you, you will have the right to reply.

 

 

Whilst an allegation is under investigation, The Open University will make temporary arrangements to protect both the person making the allegation, and the person about whom the complaint is made. These may include:  

 If the allegation is upheld, The Open University will consider which temporary steps need to be made permanent, and what other steps should be taken, to protect the person making the allegation

 

 

In most cases the answer is “no”, but the Case Manager will be able to advise on this, depending on the specific circumstances and nature of the complaint.

 

 

Whilst an allegation is under investigation, The Open University will make temporary arrangements to protect both the person making the allegation, and the person about whom the complaint is made. These may include:

 

 

If the allegation is upheld, The Open University will consider which temporary steps need to be made permanent, and what other steps should be taken, to protect the person making the report.

 

 

An annual report of level of use will be shared with the EDI Committee and published via the Report + Support area of our EDI intranet pages.